Omixochitl
by xLilim
Summary: Slight AU - Revered as the strongest witch to be born and derided for being of a cursed stock, Hisame Kazuye came to be in a world where she had to make a choice: honor her sacred bloodline or succumb to the darkness in her heart - become a puppet or become a monster. The decision was easy, but the path wasn't and neither was the company. Nahualli prequel / AizenOCUrahara


**Disclaimer**: Bleach © Tite Kubo; OCs, non-canon plot © xLilim

**Warning**(**s**): When I say AUish, I use the term lightly. I am quite literally set on abusing it. Most of the warnings from Nahualli apply here, so please expect them in some shape or form. :)

**xl note**: Prequel to Nahualli. February 2nd as promised.

It isn't necessary for you to read Nahualli before this, but you can if you want.

Hilariously enough, this is not in Hinamori or in Kazuye's point of view, it's in Kazuno's, Kazuye's mother. Enjoy.

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**Omixochitl** | Prologue

On the eve of her execution, Tsutano Kazuno received an unexpected visit. The empty corridor came alive with the soft clunk of wooden sandals and an orange light that slowly set the walls on fire.

Outside the prison tower, the wind blew a vicious storm that pelted heavily over the many rooftops in Seireitei. Since it started raining, to ease her uneasy heart, Kazuno pressed her ear to the gray wall and listened to the droplets as they picked up their tempo. She envisioned the rush of water falling to the ground. She heard and prayed an unanswered prayer to the gods that had abandoned her to take pity on her soul and save the child growing in her womb. Nothing else mattered.

The footsteps halted at the wooden bars of her prison, distracting her attention from the outside world. She peered through a thick fringe of tangled golden hair to the woman that cast a barrier so strong she could only dream of breaking it. The older woman donned a flowery kimono under a black haori that evening and smelled of the faintest perfumes. In one hand, she held a glowing lantern and in the other a folded umbrella that created a puddle of the rainwater at her feet. She regarded her with hazel eyes flickering in the firelight and an expression of sorrow.

A mother grieved for their child, regardless of their misdeeds or immorality. A good mother loved their child unconditionally, despite their faults and mistakes. Kazuno grew up with this knowledge, she believed in it.

Although, Kano, her mother, was absent when her family disowned her, when her husband shunned her and her children's love turned to hate, she never doubted the sadness in her eyes had everything to do with her imprisonment. She wished she had never been given the ability to wound her mother so badly. She damned her fate. She damned herself and every mistake.

"Do you feel regret, child?" asked Kano, a whisper in the dark.

Kazuno closed her eyes, sobbing into her hands. Every tear she held back came rushing out like a broken dam at the sight of her mother's grief, at the sound of her pain-filled voice. Her body convulsed with emotion as memory took her to the reason why she should have felt remorse, but rather than admitting to it, she shook her head.

"No," she confessed, anguished. "I wish I did, but I don't."

Kano sucked in a deep breath—a measure to her disappointment or the start of her tears. "You committed a capital crime and you feel no remorse?"

Her lips trembled as she reopened her eyes to see the tears glistening in her mother's eyes. She felt a pang in her chest as her hands found their way to the slight swell in her stomach. "I have to protect this child," she replied mournfully. "They spat on the ground I walked on, insulted me and this innocent child, threw rocks at me and threatened to kill me. If I did not bare my claws, they would have ripped her from my womb and left her to the wolves."

"You broke the sacred bond and conceived that child with a man that was not your husband," said Kano softly. "You have broken my heart and insulted your children. You spat on your family name to protect an unborn child. And yet, you found reason to victimize yourself when you killed a hundred men." The melancholy never left her mother's expression. "A hundred men with loved ones that now cry for your blood. A hundred innocent men, child."

Kazuno sobbed hysterically, a well of tears pouring from her eyes and dripping to her knees.

"You wound me."

"Sorry," she cried, bending over her legs to grovel on the floor. She tried to keep the flashes of sin from reappearing in her mind. "I'm so sorry, mama. I'm so sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't want to hurt you, but—"

Kano retreated from the glowing wooden bars. "Then, let me ask you once more," she started, eyes watering in the lantern's glow. "Do you feel remorse?"

Kazuno sniffled, lifting her head from the ground. She could have obtained forgiveness for the sorrow she caused her family. There might be a chance to redeem herself, a way to stay alive long enough to deliver her baby into the world and watch her grow before her eyes, but…

Even that was impossible. She would not see her child grow. She would be branded and her baby killed, sacrificed.

"No," she wailed, dropping back to the hard ground. She fisted her hands under her forehead and repeated that word in her head endlessly between sniffling and hysterical sobbing, through the large tears soaking into the floor.

She felt no remorse.

Kano turned away. "Goodbye, Kazuno," she whispered. Her voice barely reached her. "I will always love you."

"Mama, please," she begged, raising her eyes to her profile and the long silhouette she cast across the wall. "Please don't go. Please. I need you."

The sound of her retreating footsteps echoed louder in her head than the sobs escaping her mouth.

Kazuno scrambled to her feet and grasped onto the wooden bars. The pain that shot through her hands made her yelp at first, but she pushed through it. She held on. "You don't understand, mama!" she cried. "You don't understand how it feels to—"

Kano paused feet from reaching the entrance. The light flickered and the shadows danced.

"I love this child," continued Kazuno, wiping the snot from her nose and tears from her eyes. She sounded desperate and strange. "I love this baby as I love Kino and Keizou. You said there is nothing stronger than a mother's love. A mother protects and supports their child no matter what; they are loved from the moment they are gifted to us to the trials that await them in death. It does not wane! You said so!"

Her mother stiffened and for a moment, she felt hope. Despite the rawness of her hands as the fire trapped in the barrier dispelled into her palm, she could only feel emotional pain.

"Did they tell you he put a sword to this child?" she asked, trembling as the recollection set in. A stronger current of tears poured from her eyes and her voice grew pitchy. "They pushed me down, mama, and ripped the clothes off my back. They called me names and promised it would be painful because I should know my place—"

Kazuno's knees buckled under her and she fell, a crying mess. Her burned hands slid down the wooden frame and onto her lap where they sat numb and steaming. "Mama," she whispered, unable to go on with the terrors she endured. "Mama, I think it's a girl."

Kano's robes fluttered as she whipped around to see her sitting there. The light hit her face, making the tears glisten.

"I see her in my dreams," she told her in a soft, feathery voice. "She speaks to me sometimes. She promises me that she won't hate me if we die. Mama, did you know that I would be a girl?"

"Yes."

Kazuno smiled, fingers twitching to life. "When?"

"I saw a vision of you in my dreams," she answered tremulously. "A strong, tenacious girl with a future so full of promise." A pause followed a painful sigh. "But you always wanted what you should never have and not once stopped until you attained it, no matter how far into degradation you plummeted."

"This girl will be stronger," blurted Kazuno, sniffling. She broke into a sudden laugh as dreams of the girl appeared in her mind, a pale-haired girl with green eyes and a mischievous smile. "A Shaman like me. Stronger. Much stronger. Her spellwork will be magnificent, but she'll need a lot of help."

"A Sayegh Shaman cannot be a bastard. Giving birth to that girl will be a disservice to her. She will be shamed by our gods. There won't be room for her among our kind, no matter the talents and strength borne with her. _He _will claim her heart."

Nothing she disclosed would change her mother's mind, Kazuno inherited her stubbornness, but she hated to admit defeat without giving her all for her unborn child. Not trying would leave unfortunate regrets and her death would mean nothing but a brand of shame that won't ever leave her name.

With stinging hands covered in fresh boils, she brushed her belly affectionately. _Forgive me. I might not be able to save you._

"Take your sentence valiantly," finished Kano. "I will stay by your side until the end."

Kazuno would remember the feeling of emptiness spreading through her body as the light vanished alongside her mother's presence until the point of her death with the solemn realization that nobody would save her.

. .

The rainfall started to wane as she lost the last of her faith. The howl of the wind quieted to a mere whisper that graced the ears of the denizens of Soul Society enjoying sleep in the warmth and comfort of their homes.

Kazuno felt a noiseless discomfort as she counted the scattered raindrops during which she succumbed to hatred and virulence. She prayed her parents lay restlessly on their marital bed unable to sleep a wink because their only child sat locked away in a tower awaiting death and that her husband felt the burn of her betrayal. She wished them the worst of fates, cursed them as daybreak neared. She gave way to malice and let it overpower her heart. She would gladly become the abomination they feared her child would be if left alive.

A mistake sealed her fate. Dispelling so much energy in a fit of desperation and fury led to the death of hundreds of unrelated innocents, but she killed her tormentors and for them she spared no pity. Yet their families gathered and demanded justice, judgment Central 46 and the Nahualli Council was all too willing to give. She had not been given the privilege of a trial, only received her sentence.

Everyone turned their backs on her. The connections she nurtured through the years withered into nonexistence. She stood alone with a burden that belonged to two, but she placed no blame on the shoulders of the man that fathered her child because he reached out to her. When she sank to her knees, crying and begging, he held her hands close together and looked her in the eyes with the intent of speaking the words she needed to hear before his father appeared to remind him of his place. He was taken from her as well, but he accepted the child as his own.

She only wished she could see him one last time in private and not before the congregation of captains, lieutenants, and Shamans that would stand by to see her execution. If she could speak to him for only a moment, she would tell him she truly loved him and that what ensued had not been a game to her. She would mean it.

But it was forbidden and she would die with the regret.

"Could I be of assistance?"

Kazuno scrambled to the wall, back pressing hard into the cold surface. The distinct shadow of a boy lined the moonlit corridor outside her prison. His presence was neither present nor nonexistent, a frightening prospect that jumpstarted her heart into an erratic drumming.

She held herself guarded, surveying the dark outlines of his form as her eyes adjusted to his features. He stood in full shinigami garb with tousled brown hair, a sleek pale face complimented by a kind smile that disguised the arrogance of his tone. He looked no older than her eldest son and she wasn't sure whether that frightened her more than the fact that he walked past dozens of trained guards cutting off all unpermitted visits.

"Who are you?" she demanded, steadying her breathing.

"Aizen Sōsuke," he answered amicably. "There is no need for you to be so guarded, Sayegh."

"Why should you be the judge of that?"

"Because I asked if I could assist you. If I wanted you dead, you would have been without you knowing I was ever in the room."

He made a chilling point. She only noticed him because his voice broke through the silence.

"You are a boy," she said quickly. "This is a Sayegh barrier raised by my mother that even I can't destroy, what chance do you possess?"

The boy looked amused. "Yes, of course," he replied. "I am a boy and I can tell a powerful barrier from a weak one by glance. I don't underestimate your Sayegh abilities, but as they say, even the strongest kidō has a weakness. You only need to know where to look."

Kazuno watched him in silence, saying nothing.

"Will you accept my assistance?" he asked, looking at her directly.

She debated her options. Imminent death awaited her in a matter of hours or, if she accepted Aizen Sōsuke's assistance, freedom. She thought of all the reasons she should consent and why she should not, but more importantly, she considered the child in her belly and why she needed to live.

The tears had long before dried from her eyes as she raised them to him. "What do you want in return?"

"A promise," he offered vaguely.

"A promise?"

"It is said the Sayegh keep all of their oaths, even if it is left to the next generation to fulfill," he said, toying with his words. "Is it true?"

"If I die, this child"—she touched her stomach, a determined look set in her expression—"will carry on the task and if she passes, her children and/or grandchildren will carry on the oath until it can be fulfill. So what is it you want from me?"

"I assume I will one day need a favor only a Sayegh can accomplish and when that time comes, I want you to serve me until I decide otherwise," he answered without batting an eyelash. "It can take days, months, even years to complete but I expect you to be willing."

Servitude was not a high price to pay for two lives and she had faith that whatever would need to be done to appease the boy wouldn't be as difficult as he presented it. She considered it in silence before remembering the visions of a smiling girl calling out to her from a cobblestone road. She wanted to live to see that day.

"A promise of temporary servitude? That is all?" she repeated for confirmation.

He nodded. "That is all."

"Free me and my oath is yours."

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[ **1 **] _Omixochitl_ is the Nahuatl word for the tuberose, translating directly as "Bone Flower," but can also mean, "lily." It is pronounced "Oh-mi-SHOH-chiTl."

The tuberose, in the language of flowers, is all about dangerous and forbidden pleasures.

[ **2** ] I wrote a complete, I guess, a guide to the Nahualli race full of all the lessons in the prequel and extra tidbits of new information, including the explanation of tattoos called Markings which is still under construction and several other little bits. You can find a link on my profile under today's date that will take you to my livejournal where you can find all sorts of extras like character profiles (I added Kazuye, Akaho, and Iyo after Nahualli ended) and chapter previews. All you need to do is go to my livejournal, first entry titled after the current month and scroll down. If you click the image next to Omixochitl's information you'll be directed to its "Story Page" where you can find the profiles.

[ **3** ] Fun Facts:

* Kano's name used to be Kayo and Kazuno was Korin. I swear the name changes happened before I realized that my brain was lying to me. I'm so good with names too, but I still make the occasional mistake... I'm sticking to the changed names, of course, for continuities sake.

* Also, one of Kazuye's brother's used to be a girl, but she was too much of a hassle so I turned her into a dude. It was Kino.

* In the prototype of the series, back when it was "Obscure" and incredibly uncreative, Keizou would have been Kazuye's womanizing twin brother and confidant. But I do too much twin stuff, so I thought to give it a rest especially because it wouldn't work with the new storyline and I couldn't be bothered with going through the trouble of making it work with all the reading I had been doing.

[ **4** ] Thank you for reading.


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